The Society of Neurological Surgeons



			About the Senior Society



			Officers



			Committees



			Members Directory



			History



			Meeting Information



			Match Information



			Subspecialty Training & Fellowships



			RUNN Course




			Related Links



			SNS News

Deceased Member

Elected: 1983

1937-2006

Fred Epstein was born in Yonkers, New York, the second of three children, a child of a psychiatrist and psychiatric social worker. He grew up in a household that thrived on intellectual and creative energies and fostered idealism, concern for fellow human beings and a strong sense of charity.

In high school, Fred was a student leader, being president of the senior class, president of the student council and captain of the football and baseball teams.

In football, Fred was a star defensive player and punter and received city and state recognition for athletic accomplishments. Upon graduation, he received the trophy which was awarded to the graduating student that most exemplified leadership, sportsmanship and scholarship.

After graduating from college in 1959 and entering New York Medical College, it was his long-term goal to follow in his father's and mother's footsteps and become a psychiatrist. However, during a neurosurgical rotation while a third year student in medical school (on the service of Isiodore Tarlov, M.D.), he became excited by neurosurgery and, at that time, made the career decision to pursue training in this specialty. With the support of Dr. Tarlov and Dr. Elliot Hurwitt (who was Chief of Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center), he was accepted to the training program of Joseph Ransohoff, M.D. at the New York University Medical Center where he trained in neurosurgery from 1965 until 1970.

Just prior to completion of training, Dr. Ransohoff invited Fred to stay on in the position of assistant professor and to develop a service in pediatric neurosurgery. By coincidence of time and place, there were a "nucleus" of other neurosurgeons who had completed training at around the same time and were interested in pursuing pediatric neurosurgery. They encouraged one another in this pursuit and the most important ones in terms of developing a specialty of which Fred was a part, were Harold Hoffman, M.D. in Toronto, Luis Schut, M.D. in Philadelphia, and the senior member of the group at that time, Anthony Raimondi, M.D. who was Chairman of Neurosurgery at Northwestern University.

He is past president of the ASPN, ISPN, and the Pediatric Section of the AANS. He was the Founding Director of the Fred Epstein Div. of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the New York University Medical Center. In 1996, he moved the Pediatric Neurosurgical Services to the Beth Israel North Medical Center and became the Founding Director of the Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery at that institute. While continuing to operate on about 150 brain and spinal cord tumors each year, he has become a very strong supporter of the concept that technology must be "married to humanity" in the construction of a healing environment for children as well as their families. In this endeavor, he has explored other treatment and supportive modalities for his patients, which have included music therapy and programmatic play, as well as stress reduction through meditation and yoga classes. He has continued to emphasize that we must no think so much of a health system, but of a healing system. While technology and state-of-the-art surgery are indispensable and irreplaceable, we must integrate other programs to provide the best environment for recovery of our patients.

He has been married to Kathy for 35 years, and they have five children; Samara (age 30), Ilana (age 27), Jason (age 24), Joey (age 16), and Benjamin (age 13).